The university received a charter from Frederick I Barbarossa in 1158. In the 19th century, a committee of historians traced the founding of the University back to 1088, which would make it the oldest continuous university in the world.[2][3][4] That is slightly earlier than the University of Oxford, where there is evidence of teaching in 1096. [5]

Bologna was also the first to use the term universitas for the corporation of students and masters which make up a university.